d through it. is she for real? your generation has it made. [ male announcer ] the wireless receiver. only from at&t u-verse. get a free wireless receiver with a qualifying u-verse plan. rethink possible. get a free wireless receiver with a qualifying u-verse plan. >> chris: i'm chris wallace. violence against americans sweeps the middle east. we'll have the latest from the region and discuss with the obama administration will do next with the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, susan rice. then, big questions on capitol hill. who is behind the attack that killed the u.s. ambassador to libya? and should we cut off foreign aid to governments that fail to protect our diplomats? we'll have the head of the house in it tell against committee, chairman mike

rogers. plus, tough talk from both candidates on the middle east. we'll ask our sunday panel if foreign policy will finally become an issue in this campaign. and our power players of the week. using their washington clout to fight a devastating disease. all right now on "fox news sunday." and hello again from fox news in washington. we'll talk with ambassador rice and chairman rogers in a moment. first here is the latest on the situation overseas. protesters have attacked u.s. targets in more than 20 nations. citing concerns over security the state department ordered all nonessential u.s. government personnel to leave sudan and tunisia and in libya there are reports of more arrests in the attack that killed four americans including ambassador chris stevens. for more on the continuing unrest let's bring in current

leland in cairo, egypt. >> reporter: in cities across the middle east there is now a tense calm that has taken over here in cairo. hundreds if not thousands of riot police ready on standby in case violence breaks out, once again. for four days, it was a pitched fight between protesters on the street throwing molotov cocktails and hurling rocks and then police firing back with rubber bull lets and tear gas. the protesters carrying posters of only and chanting obama, obama, we are all osama. in tunisia, u.s. is citizens advised to evacuate the country and or not travel to tunisia after violence swept there that killed four people when protesters stormed the u.s. emba he is. the government of sudan denied entry to a marine special operations team that was deemed sent to secure the u.s. embassy after mass protests in that

country which resulted in thousands storming the embassy and security forces hop opening fire to turn back the protesters. in al-qaeda, urging more attacks. there was a credible threat against the u.s. embassy here. security at an unprecedented level with 15-foot tall concrete barriers erected on every one of the entranceways down to the u.s. embassy compound. we took a walk around earlier and outside the barricades the protesters made their message clear spray painted in english usa go to hell. chris, back to you. >> chris: leland reporting from key row. cairo. thanks for that. joining us now our ambassador to the united nations, susan rice. welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> thank you. >> chris: there have been antiamerican protests in two dozen countries across the islamiced world. the white house says it has

nothing to do with the president's policies. let's watch. >> this is not a case of protests directed at the united states at large or at u.s. policy. this is in response to a video that is offensive. >> chris: you don't really believe that? >> chris, absolutely i believe that. in fact, it is the case. we had the evolution of the arab spring over the last many months but what sparked the recent violence was the airing on the internet of a very hateful very offensive video that has offended many people around the world. now, our strong view is that there is no excuse for violence. it is reprehensible and never justified but in fact there have been those in various parts of the world who have reacted with violence. their governments have increasingly and effectively responded and protected our facilities and condemned the violence and this outrageous

response to what is an offensive individual yo video. there is no question what we have seen in the past with satanic verses and the cartoon of the prophet muhammad there have been such things that have sparked outrage and anger and this has been the proximate cause. >> chris: it may have sparked it but you critics say that the outpouring of outrage against the u.s. has everything to do with the u.s. policies that we are disengaging from that part of the world that we pulled out of iraq, we are are pulling out of afghanistan, that iran is continuing on with its nuclear program and they say our critics is that our allies no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us. >> chris, that is just false. our partners and allies value voters responded effectively and promptly when we have asked them to protect our facilities and our people.

>> chris: well, let's -- it took three days in cairo. >> and what happened initially in cairo was not sufficiently robust when president obama picked up the phone and spoke to the president right away things changed. and that is an evidence of our influence and impact and what happened was that the authorities in egypt have been very robust in protecting our facilities not just in cairo but elsewhere in the country. the president has issued repeated condemnations of the violent response and called for calm and we have seen the same thing in yemen, in libya, in tunisia and many other parts of the world. >> why are we asking all nongovernmental personnel to leave sudan and tunisia. >> we are not asking all governmental personnel. >> chris: all non eception governmental personnel. >> on a selective basis where we assess that the security condition ness tate is have

family members vacate the country. it is short-term and temporary and prudent. we do it, chris, because we prioritize the president has been clear his number one priority is the protection of american personnel and facilities. >> chris: do you think we are turning the corner here? >> chris, i think, first of all, we have seen in the past outrage and unfortunately violent outrage which is condemnable and never justified. it may, indeed, occur in other circumstances. there is no predicting exactly what the trajectory of this is. the last couple of days have been some what better. we are vigilant and we are of the view that is not an expression of whose teality in the broadest sense towards the united states or u.s. policy. it is a reaction to this video and a hateful video that had nothing to do with the united states and which we find disgusting and reprehensible. >> chris: you talk about our influence and impact in the region.

our closest ally in the region escapeddial clearly doesn't feel that we are supporting them when it comes to confronting iran. in fact, this past week, prime minister netanyahu blasted the u.s. for its failure to set the same red lines as he has in terms of stopping iran's nuclear program. let's watch what the prime minister said. >> there is still time. and i say wait for what? wait until when? those in the international community who refuse to put red liens before iran don't have a moral right to place a red line in jerusalem. >> chris: and when netanyahu requested a meeting the president said he was too busy to meet with him. >> let me address -- >> chris: let me ask a question, mckinley i if i may.

>> i how to thought you had. >> chris: is that how we treat our best friend in the region? >> as prime minister netanyahu and defense minister barack repeatedly said the relationship between the united states and israel at present is unprecedented it has never been stronger. those are their words. that is the overall nature of our relationship, very strong. stronger than ever. secondly, with respect to iran. the united states, president obama has been absolutely crystal clear that the united states will not allow iran to acquire a nuclear weapon and we will do what it takes to prevent that from happening. all options remain on the table. the president has been very clear about that and that includes the military option. not a policy of containment, chris, as the president repeatedly said. a policy to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. that is the bottom line or as the prime minister prefers to

call it a red line, that is the bottom line. we have also said and we are in constant communication with israeli security and intelligence and policy officials that we still think there is team through economic pressure which is unprecedented as well, iran's economy is now shrinking by 1% a year. its oil production is down 40%. its currency plummeted 40% just in the last several months as sanctions have gone into fullest effect. we think there is time and space for that pressure to yield a result. the bottom line chris is the only way to permanently end iran's nuclear program is if it decides to give that program up. now, the most solemn decision that a president can ever take is a decision to go t war. before resort to force let us be sure we have exhausted other means including sanctions, pressure and ki diplomacy to

ensure that iran finally gives up its nuclear weapons. >> chris: in the time we have left. >> you asked about the visit. >> chris: we have limited time. >> that was the third point i wanted to address. as you know, the president is coming up to the general assembly in new york at the united nations. he will be there in the beginning of the week monday and tuesday. prime minister netanyahu is coming toward the end of the week. the schedules don't match. there is no opportunity for them to meet in the u.s. >> the prime minister would be willing i'm sure to go to washington. >> well, the prime minister hasn't asked for a meeting in washington, chris. >> chris: and he said that countries that don't set red lines don't have the moral authority to put red lights on israel. that doesn't sound like a happy ally, ambassador. >> we are close partners and friends and always will be. that is an enduring aspect of the u.s. israeli relationship. >> chris: why did he --

>> because they are friends and when friends need to say something to each other they pick up the phone and talk and they talked for an hour. are it was a good conversation and it is in the nature of our relationship that the two partners speak to one another regularly. we have no daylight between us on the issue of preventing iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. that is our clear bottom lien and the president could not be any plainer about it. >> chris: let's talk about the attack on the u.s. consultate in benghazi that killed four americans including ambassador chris stevens. the top libyan official says that the attack on tuesday was quote his words preplanned. al-qaeda says the operation was revenge for our killing a top al-qaeda leader. what do we know? >> we are obviously investigating this very closely. the fbi has a lead in this investigation. the information the best information and the best assessment we have today is that in fact this was not a preplanned premeditated attack.

that what happened initially was that it was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in cairo as a consequence of the video. people gathered outside the embassy and then it grew very violent and those with extremist ties joined the fray and came with heav heavy weapos which unfortunately are quite common in post revolutionary libya and that then spun out of control. we don't see at this point signs this was a coordinated plan premeditated attack. we will wait for the results of the investigation and don't want to jump to conclusions before then. i think it is important for the american people to know our best current assessment. >> chris: and the last question, terror cells in benghazi have carried out five attacks since april including one at the same consultate, a bombing at the same consultate in june, should u.s. security have been tighter at that consultate given the his tore

history of terror activity in benghazi? >> we did have a strong security and three of the four americans that died were there to provide security. it wasn't enough to prevent the overrun of the consultate. this is among the things that will be looked at as the investigation unfolds. >> chris: but it could have been stronger beforehand? >> also why we increased our security presence in tripoli in the aftermath of this as well as in other parts of the world. i can't judge that, chris. we have to see what the assessment reveals. obviously there was a significant security presence defending our consultate and our other facility in benghazi and that did not prove sufficient to the moment. >> chris: ambassador rice, thank you so much for coming in today and discussing the fast-moving developments in that part of the world. thanks so much. >> thank you for having me. >> chris: up next, the head of

the house intelligence committee meek rogers with the latest on who was behind that -- mike rogers with the latest on who was behind that deadly attack on our diplomats. ♪

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with investment information, risks, fees and expenses >> chris: there are still more questions than answers about the attack in libya tuesday that killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. for more on where the investigation stands we are joined which the chairman of the house intelligence committee, congressman mike rogers in his home state of michigan. congressman, you just heard ambassador rice say that her

latest indications are that the attack on the consultate in benghazi was a spontaneous demonstration about the video that spun out of control. do you agree with the ambassador? >> i think it is just too early to make that conclusion. there are concern ther -- thers in department of defense and cia and operatives in both places. as an fbi agent i get to look at all of that. i come to a different conclusion. they are only moderately confident it was a spontaneous event because there is huge gaps in what we know. the way that the attack took place, i have serious questions. it seemed to be a military style coordinated. they had indirect fire, coordinated with direct fire. rocket attacks. they were able to launch two different separate attacks on locations there near the consultate and they repelled a fairly significant libyan force that came to rescue the embassy. and then it was on 9/11 and

there is other information classified information that we have that just makes you stop for a minute and pause and as the first thing you learn as a young fbi agent is there are coincidences but they are not likely and there are a lot of coincidences about this event. do i believe that people did show than had weapons and joined the effort. probably i do but i think to me when you you look at all of the information' cross both departments -- across both departments i'm suspect that they could come to that conclusion that it was a spontaneous effort given the coordination of it. >> chris: there has been talk about an extremist group in benghazi. there has been talk that they were in touch with another group al-qaeda in north africa. what can you you tell us about that? >> for months al-qaeda in the magraib across northern africa which joined in about 2007 i think it was or 2008, they joined al-qaeda so they had their own groups across

northern africa. they have been looking because al-qaeda core have told them that you you need to start attacking western targets so they have been looking for opportunities. there was an ied at this facility just months ago. there is some interest by al-qaeda, strong interest i should say to attack western targets. we know that al-qaeda cells in tunisia have been developing, in libya have been developing. we can't say for certain it was an al-qaeda event, it just has all of the hall marks, chris, of an al-qaeda style event. >> chris: given and you mentioned the fact there had been an ied attack at this consult ate. there have been five terror ail tacks on the ground against western interests in benghazi. i understand that hindsight is 20/20. were we as prepared as we should have been given the fact that there was a history of violence in the region and, yes, was the anniversary of 9/11 and, yes, the ambassador

was at this not very fortified installation in benghazi. should there have been more security there? >> that one is hard to assess. i think we need to walk to that conclusion and not run. one of the things we do ask diplomats in places like libya to do, t is a bit of an expeditionary exercise. we didn't have an embassy there but it was important to haves influence there for hopefully a better outcome that leads to more peaceful events in the future. he gave his life in that effort. we have to look at was the security accurate for what we knew in accordance with what the mix was for the ambassador was in benghazi at that time. i don't think any one today can say yes or no. i know the fbi is on the ground and theyville a great forensic when they are done a great forensic picture for us and then we can make that determination and also through the committee and intelligence services scrubbing everything

we knew up to that point. there was a smoking gun that was missed. i don't think we know that answer either. i have not seen anything that indicates that. but we just don't know. i think all of those pieces have to be put together before we come to the conclusion they didn't have the right security posture there in benghazi. >> chris: let's talk about the broader picture and wave of antiamerican violence across islamic world this week. you just heard ambassador rice say this has nothing to do with u.s. policy in the middle east. it is all about that video that insults the prophet muhammad. congressman, do you believe that? >> i don't. i think this is a convenient effort by all of the groups who have other ulterior motives. if you remember even i know the ambassador mentioned the prophet muhammad cartoons. there were months that went by before violence was i incited. they did that througher that own information operations. al-qaeda and terrorist groups.

al-qaeda is clearly trying to use this to incite violence. a mechanism to do what they have been trying to do all along. what we are finding in some of the demonstrators in egypt is finding that a lot of the folks showing up hadn't even seen the video and this is some of that youth group that really started the change in egypt and now the day the election happened felt immediately disenfranchised. economic and religious problems and cultural differences and tribal differences in libya. all of those things are simmering and we have had at least what appears to the folks in the middle east and they can say what they want, i travel there frequently, the middle east believes the countries in the middle east believe that there is a disengagement policy by the united states and that lack of leadership there or at least clarity on what our position is is causing problems. if we all decide to rally around the video as the problem we going to make a serious mistake and we are going to make i think diplomatic

mistakes as we move forward if we think that is the only reason people are showing up at our embassy and trying to conduct violence. >> chris: let me ask you a poe lepolitical question. do you think the administration is putting it all on the video because that' lous them to duck questions about their policies? >> well, i think we have not had a robust debate in the campaign in the presidential campaign about foreign policy. it has been on the back burner. the president doesn't talk a lot about it. he hasn't given any speeches of significance since the 2009 cairo speech. policies overseas have consequences. i had a meeting with a senior middle east intelligence official awhile ago and asked him if i could make you king for a day what would you ask of the united states and he stopped for a minute, chris and said i would tell you to tell us what is your middle east policy. there is no u.s. leadership.

that is a pretty powerful thing to hear when you have all this chaos breaking out now and this was several months ago. the policies do have some consequence. a combination of all of the things i just talked about. a very, very difficult problem to solve but you can't solve it by just trying to step back and letting the cauldron semer on its own. t is a combination of showing strength and showing up. we have to be there. if israel is -- >> chris: let me interrupt for a second because i want to get to this point. relationships after the arab spring, democracies replaced dictatorships. islamic groups were allowed to protest in the streets where before theyd that been suppressed. could the administration the president have done more to aggressively advance our interests in this changing

middle east? >> i'm hot going to say t is -- i'm not going to say it is not hard, these are hard problems. i do think it is important that with u.s. leadership you don't allow the governments to fan the flames of antiamericannism for their own domestic consumption and do the wink, wink, nudge, nudge exchange public statements about how we all don't leak it. that is not a good policy and is not going to solve the problem. you need direct conversations and public conversations and i think from the president as well and i hope he does start to engage in a public way in foreign policy that helps set the record straight about the united states position. saying that we have great relationships and everything is wonderful and saying it is just this one video causing all of this problem, the bad guys are going to use this as a reason to do what they have already been doing. but we need more than that. this shouldn't be about the election. it can't be about the election.

it has is to be about standing up for our national security issues because it is going to impact us no matter who wins in november and has as we can see very serious consequences if we he don't get it right. >> chris: congressman, should the u.s. and this is a decision you have to make at a member of congress. should the u.s. cut off aid to countries like egypt or libya or delay it conditioned on the idea that that you have to show that you are willing to protect u.s. interests whether it is literally protecting our embassies and diplomats or advancing u.s. policies? >> well, the first thing is they are obligated to protect our emba he is. i wouldn't make that -- embassy. they need to do that today. without excuse. and without delay. on top of that, i think we can condition aid. i always said if we just completely pull out of egypt is america better off or worse off when it comes to being able to influence a better outcome for

peace. i think it is probably better that we have some influence in egypt to have conversations about you don't want to provoke israel and continue on with this antiamericannism. we shouldn't just give the money and hope for the best, that is not going to work. if we condition the spending and understand it is okay to ask for something that is in our best interest. we shouldn't apologize for that. we shouldn't say that is offensive to any one. it is our money. it is taxpayer money and we ought to say here is what we really want to have happen and that good influence of the united states really we prefer commerce over conflict and if we can continue to promote that around the world the world is going to be a better place. we have to be there for that to happen. i wouldn't run away from the money right away and say we are going punish you immediately but we are going to condition it and if you don't do what you ask us to do we will take the

money aweigh. it is in our best interest to do it. >> chris: thank you so much for bringing us up to date on the investigation of the deadly attack in labia and th libya ae rest of the situation in the middle east. thank you. >> thanks, cress, appreciat che it. >> chris: next we will bring our is sunday group into som te conversation when weuc come rir back. while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy.

so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule.

i have come here to cairo to seek a new beginning between the united states and muslims around the world.

one based on mutual interest and mutual respect. and one based upon the truth that america and islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. >> chris: that was president agoa in cairo three years agoo trying to reset relations between the u.s. and the islamic world. time for our sunday group. brit hume, fox news senior political analyst. liz and bill kristol. we remember the speech where the president said that the trauma of 9/11 had led us "to act contrary to our ideals in promising to change course." brit in the aftermath of what we have seen this week how is the president's policy as set forth in cairo looking? >> well, it looks a little ragged and i would say that they were remarks that he made even before the cairo speech

that were even more to the point when said in an interview on november 21, 2007 i truly believe he said that the day in' inaugural rated not only does the country look at itself differently but the world looks at itself differently and launched into a discussion of the muslim world and background in muslim countries and in tunisia and his half sister is muslim and in the end this is something that will make the country safer, something the administration failed to grasp. i think we are seeing the further education of a president who was and to come extent remains a foreign policy novice and learning that his mere obamaness and all that goes with it is not sufficient to change the fact that the middle east remains a tender box subject to being lit ablaze by even a small match which i think that movie is at best a small match. >> chris: liz, what happened to the reset in relations between

the u.s. and the islamic world? >> obviously, it has been hard going. as obama himself said in the 2009 speech antiamericannism, tensions between the middle east and u.s. have been going on for decades and is something that is not going to quickly change. he said that. this is an area where obama now is probably suffering the consequences of what were probably inflated expectations going there and listening was somehow going to change things and obviously it is a really difficult problem and seems like we have internal power struggles going on in the countries and not a lot of good options. >> chris: bill, when i talked to ambassador rice and discussed what critics are saying about u.s. foreign policy which he did not like i was thinking of you, this notion that the u.s. is in disengagement from the middle

east and we are in retreat and our and enemies don't know who we are or how much they can count on what they believe about us. obviously, you know, the people who killed the americans, the people who stormed the embassy, they are responsible but to what degree to you think obama's policies have contributed to the events this week? >> i think they have contributed and i really wish it weren't the case. i really wish as implied that president obama was educated since his cairo speech. i thought after the surge in afghanistan and after a the killing of osama bin laden and the drone attack a tougher stance generally that perhaps he had learned something from his early preelection promises and the speech in the summer of 2009. watching them this week they are exactly where they were in the cairo speech. the white house press secretary saying from the white house podium this trailer of the movie that no one has seen.

>> chris: and the u.n. ambassador. >> and the u.n. ambassador is saying. nothing to do with what the u.s. stands for. that is the position of the u.s. government, the u.s. administration is saying that. what is the actual official response to send an fbi team over to take a look at the situation except it now you turn is out it was reported that the fbi team can't go to libya and they pulled them back yesterday because it is not a safe enough situation to do the forensic situation. it is like a parody and going back to the 1990s. i think theres bipartisan agreement that way was not effective. it didn't work. now, they are right back where they were before 9/11. >> chris: jeff, do you think because i must say i find it astonishing myself the idea that they would say this is all about the video. do you think they really believe that or see that as an easy out and as i suggested to mike rogers now they don't have to answer questions about

policy because it has nothing to do with policy. >> i'm not sure if they believe it or not but they are doubling down on it. it looks like they believe it, b ev privately even in conversations i have had over the weekend with senior administration officials about this no one is leaving open the possibility this is just a line we are are giving as we look into it further. it seems to me that they are opening themselves up to or they are lead leaving themselves vulnerable here. once more answers are known i think as chairman rogers was saying he was giving a very sort of even handed response i think saying look we still don't know the answers to a lot of the questions of what happened over there. if this administration -- if it turns out a month from now that there was a major intelligence failure i think this is going to look pretty irresponsible and silly reit now t silly rigs is all because of a trailer for a video. i was at that speech in cairo in 2009 and i'm struck how much

has changed and how much it almost looks some of those comments sound i don't know if naive but quaint given everything that happened with the arab spring and things and certainly not really relevant. i think there is time for a reset of that reset and we haven't heard the president talk about his policy a lot sense then. >> chris: and that brings up a tare question, brit, which is the arab spring. obviously things were going to be more complicated after the ar b spring. you couldn't just call up hosni mubarak and say stop the protesters. you have islam eck groups now free to express themselves and, yes, to protest. how could the president have better managed what was always going to be a messy transition? >> a couple of things. one is how the president and his team dealt with the actions in the countries most affected by the arab spring. seems we have kind of a mixed set of results. the other question revolves around when militant islamists

are considering how to attack or undermine the united states it is believed that one of the things that they deeply respect is power and force. they understand it. they recognize it. they fear it. and it worries them. so if you look at the fact that we are out of iraq, we are pulling out of afghanistan, does that look to them like strength or weakness and a possible opportunity? if it turns out that al-qaeda was deeply involved in the benghazi attack it would be a very significant al-qaeda success and the first they had really since the heyday of al-qaeda in iraq. that will represent it seems to me a serious sign of failure of the administration's policies throughout the region. >> chris: all right. we have to take a break here. but coming up, we have covered the policy, next the politics of national security as is t is playing out on the campaign trail. this country was built by working people.

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the first response of the united states must be outrage

at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. and apology for america's values is never the right course. >> governor romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and i'm later and as president one of the things i learned is you can't do that chris president obama and governor romney with punch and counter punch over the u.s. reaction to the violence in the middle east this week. we are back now with the panel. it has been the big political question in washington this last week. did mitt romney make a mistake attacking the president's policies just five hours after we found out that those four americans had been slaughtered in benghazi. brit, as you look back at this over the last few days what do you think? >> i think what he said was correct but it was clumsy. and it opened him up to charges that he made a terrible mistake. we had an almost ludicrous overreaction in a lot of the media about it in which what he

did became the big story rather than what was happening over there which was not a great moment for the national media i'm sad to say. he could have waited, it might have been better if he had. look, what he was criticizing there was a statemen statemente were talking about in the first panel is the administration emphasis on this video and attacking it and reiterating it later after these events had unfolded. so they doubled down. eventually the white house walked it back and so on. but the next thing you know the white house is saying the same thing it is all about the video. so, my sense is that he was on the mark. he might have timed it better or said it better. >> chris: liz? >> i think it was a tricky week for both mitt romney and president obama and when you have a week when obama is being compared to jimmy carter and mitt romney compared to richard nixon not a week that either campaign is probably going to want to remember. that said i think in the short-term romney's statements

got more attention. and i think the problem that romney has in this situation is sort of two-fold. one was that he did seem political and seemed like he was acting more in the interest of his campaign than acting in the interest of the americans overseas who were in danger at the time. and secondly it has been hard for him to are tech late exactly what he would where ash tick late whaarticulate what he doing that is different. he says he would be shaping events, he does not say what that means. withdrawing from iraq, rather we are still not there. the consequences are not necessarily policies popular with americans right now. i think it makes it hard. he has this sort of sweeping language about how he wants to project strength. if strength means military force and spending more money on foreign aid that is not popular either. it is not clear are what his

actions would be. >> chris: i will pick up on that. even if romney's timing is wrong, there is certainly debate over the president's foreign policy. we had some today with ambassador rice and congressman rogers and i talked to top officials in the romney campaign and they said they have no plans for a major foreign policy speech in the next few weeks before the debates. the question is why not? >> i think they should address the issue on the mind of every american. what is going on and why is it happening and what would the next president do to agress it. this is what people want to hear about it. a congressional candidate yesterday said he is interested personally in foreign policy and his audiences haven't asked him much about it. last week he didn't even begin to raise it particularly on wednesday and thursday boasted denly all of the questions were about it. the next president has to deal

with this. what are you going to do. you you need to address this. better to be clumsy and correct than timid and silent. i hope as someone who hopes romney wins i hope he is not timid and silent and does what liz said and lays out his foreign policy agenda. and i talked with some romney people, too. have to be careful, war is unpopular and afghanistan is unpopular and iraq. we convention spoke more about war and wasn't timid to say the word afghanistan. it was the democratic convention. maybe the american public is a little more mature and serious than the campaign strategists think and maybe they would actually like to hear what the next president would do about this crisis. >> chris: jeff, you know, i think it would be fair to say there is a growing sense among political observers as we see the polls that romney is losing right now. not that he has lost, not that it is over but that he is losing ground and i think the question is after this

selection of paul ryan which they see as a bold choice they have gotten into a crouch and not campaigning on a bold agenda as a candidate of reform. what are they thinking at romney head quarters in boston? >> frustrated by the growing story line that he may be losing. i think losing is the wrong way to look at it. he probably has failed to take advantage of the moment of the really three weeks sense naming the vice presidential candidate and into his convention. the jobs report number a week ago on friday seems like a long time ago was something that his campaign thought would reset things and it really didn't. they have had a hard time sort of i think resetting the race and gaining ground but i think it is absurd to say that he has lost or is losing. i mean the cbs "new york times" poll showed last week among

likely voters still a 3 point contest within the margin of error. that is with even what romney's own advisors will concede if they had not the smoothest of weeks. still an even race and anything could happen. out in battleground states across the country the obama campaign seems to be performing a little bit better. >> chris: why this reluctance to give a major foreign policy speech? why the reluctance when there is all this criticism that the policies favor the rich over the middle class. give a major speech and explain what are some of the things he would do in tax reform that would hurt the rich? >> the overarching thought in the romney campaign is still that this election is about president obama and that they can win this election by this growing sentiment it is time to fire president obama. now, i'm not sure that that is reit. they have to give it seems a lot of republicans are hungering for more of a reason to hire governor romney. i'm not convinced that they won't give some kind of a big

speech. i don't know if it will be a foreign policy speech but they see the same information that everyone here sees and talks about and i think they know they have to kick things up about a little bit. >> even if this ends up being in effect a referendum on the president and his record the challenger still has something that must be done and that is to present himself as a plausible and acceptable presidential alternative. now, romney has the presidential bearing down. he is fine on that. he presented himself at his convention as a nice guy and a normal person with a great family. he has got that down. what he didn't do was dwell at length on the economic policies that he would put in place and a big piece of being a plausible president is being knowledgeable and have a deep sense of the world and the united states' place in it and differentiate the policies you would pursue from the other guy and he hasn't done that. he may get the referendum but

if he hasn't done h his part and stepped up as a plausible alternative he might lose anyway. >> chris: liz? >> it has become a difficult story line for romney that he is losing. that is a difficult position for a candidate to get into because the entire media lense starts to be through that lense of he is the losing candidate right now and even the reaction this week to his statement was seen as an act oofof desperati. >> chris: bill, less than a minute left. what confuses me when picked ryan as his running mate i thought that was a statement he will come forward with a bold affirmative positive agenda and be the candidate of reform. after naming h him and getting a bump in the polls and people getting excited he hasn't capitalized on that.

>> maybe they will learn a le lesson, until the republican convention romney gained in the polls. is it is back up to three points when it had gone back to the preryan campaign. maybe shepard smith should consequences of the ryan pick e which is positive. >> chris: check out panel plus where we pick up on the discussion on our website "fox news sunday. follow us on twitter at "fox news sunday." up next, or power players of the week. sh, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 70% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing.

with investment information, risks, fees and expenses >> chris: they are one of washington's power couples. he was a top executive at aol and cbs. she used to write sitcoms. now, they are taking on the fight of their lives. and they are our power players of the week. >> it is the only disease in the top ten killers that has no means of prevention, cure or treatment. >> chris: george fradenburg is talking about alzheimer's, the disease that robs people of their memory and then mind and eventually kills them. he and his wife of 43 years trish have donated millions of dollars to launch an organization called us against alzheimer's. >> chris: what is the goal of us against alzheimer's? >> a means of prevention and treatment by the year 2020. >> chris: but is there any reason to believe that is possible over the next 8 years? >> yes, the answer is 2020 is

feasible. is it a guarantee, a lock? no. other wise why should we be in the game. >> chris: what makes the group different is it is part philanthropy that invests in research but also a political action committee. this week they were on capitol hill meeting with congressman jim moran. >> right now, cancer is allocated $6 billion a year and we are making progress. alzheimer's, $450 million a year. >> and braedenberg says if we don't find a treatment or cure for alzheimer's it will bankrupt the nation. now, five million americans have the disease. with aging baby boomers that will double in 30 years. >> costing us $200 billion a year to care for people with alzheimer's. 70% of that comes from medicare and medicaid. that is going to grow to $1 trillion a year by 2050. >> chris: the fight against alzheimer's is personal.

trisha's mother who was a hard charging new jersey democrat died of the disease 20 years ago. >> we saw her just go downh hill from a towering human being to a person who didn't know us. >> chris: tough question. do you worry that you are going to get it? >> those days where i can't find my keys, i -- yeah, i worry. >> chris: is it true you have not been tested? >> until i know that there is a possibility of having some way to diminish or stop or arrest alzheimer's, i have no need to know if i have a death sentence or not. >> chris: honestly, how much of this crusade is the fact that you want to find a cure, a treatment. >> of course. whether i am the care giver report victim, one out of two over 85 have this disease. >> chris: and so george and trish keep sounding the alarm. keep trying to build a political movement against a

killer they say is coming for them and so many of us. >> with alzheimer's it is a cruel disease that is going to take tens of millions of lives and we can't get ourselves together so that is frustrating. >> chris: if you want to learn more about their cause, check out their website us against alzheimer's.org. and that is it for today. have a great week and we will captioned by closed captioning services, inc.